France, Australia friends again

France and Australia today overcame differences over the Iraq war to sign agreements for working holiday exchanges and cooperation in the fight against toothfish poachers.

Under the working holiday agreement, Australian travellers will be able to live and work in France, with French travellers gaining the same rights in Australia.

Under the agreement on maritime cooperation, Australia will gain access to French SPOT surveillance satellite imagery to track fishing vessels in the Southern Ocean.

The agreements were signed in Canberra by Mr Downer and junior French foreign minister Renaud Muselier, marking the first official visit to Australia by a French foreign minister for two decades.

Mr Downer conceded Australia and France hadn't agreed on the conflict in Iraq, with France strongly opposing the US-led invasion.

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"Australia and France, whatever differences we may have had over the question of Iraq, are two countries that stand for the same values," he said.

"We believe in the same broad principles of freedom and democracy and we have wide ranging cooperation, be it economic where there are a large number of French companies investing in Australia making jobs for Australians, through to the very good cooperation that there is between us on areas such as counter-terrorism."

Mr Downer said Australia appreciated the cooperation of French authorities in the case of French terror suspect Willie Brigitte.

Brigitte, a French national with alleged links to terror group al-Qaeda, arrived in Australia on a tourist visa in May and lived for five months in Sydney.

French intelligence discovered his location and informed Australian authorities. He was detained and deported to France on October 9.

Mr Downer said France and Australia also agreed on the need to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the working holiday agreement with France was Australia's 17th.

"We are going to welcome up to 500 French nationals to Australia. We will be delighted to take from them whatever experience we can in the wine industry and pick up some more secrets," she said.

Mr Muselier said Australia and France shared economic interests with 250 French firms operating in Australia and employing more than 70,000 Australians.

"We have many important secrets we are happy to share with you," he said.

"This bilateral cooperation also extends to human relations exchanges and culture. We share the same values.

"I believe we are very much of the same minds as you as far as the destruction of weapons of mass destruction, the struggle against terrorism and reinforcement of democracy."